COVID-19 continues to pose a challenge for residential care providers – even as restrictions ease – with case numbers growing among residents and staff.
The number of cases of the coronavirus in residential aged care homes has risen from 2,713 on 24 March to 5,918 on 22 April, according to the latest data supplied by the Federal Government. Of the latest COVID cases, 3,639 are residents and 2,279 are staff.
The number of residents who have died from COVID has increased 27.7% over the same period, from 923 to 1,179. Sadly, more residents have died in 2022 than the previous two years combined.
In total, 2,096 aged care residents have died since the pandemic began, which represents almost 30% of the total number of COVID deaths (7,052) in Australia.
This is despite 165,199 aged care residents (96.1%) having three or more COVID vaccinations, with 132,575 fourth dose (winter) vaccinations taking place in the week to 24 April.
The highest number of active outbreaks are Regis Bulimba (83) in QLD, followed by Whiddon Glenfield (81) and SummitCare St Marys (70), both in NSW.
